Fabric sling



Sept. 8, 1959 G. BARTHULE FABRIC sLING Filed Feb. 14, 1957 7722/620 6290/3@ fa/zlfe. Jj mam/ M 1||||1n|l|||||||||| .lilllndummui www@ m NNI United States Patent O FABRIC SLING George Barthule, Northbrook, lll., assignor to Lftex lings, Inc., a corporation of Illinois Application February 14, 1957, Serial No. 640,246

2 Claims. (Cl. 294-74) This invention relates to fabric slings and more particularly a novel webbing sling having reversed eyes and further provides a novel method of making such a sling. By reversed eye sling is meant one which has an eye at each end, the axes of the eyes being perpendicular to the general plane of the webbing or body of the sling, as distinguished from an eye and eye type of sling, the usual type, in which the axis of the eye is parallel to the general plane of the webbing.

According to this invention the sling is formed from two strips or pieces of webbing having their ends overlapped and stitched together to provide that portion of the sling that becomes the reversed eyes, the strips of webbing between the two eye portions being in flat sideby-side relation and secured together in this position, after which a working face is preferably applied to at least one surface of the sling.

A better understanding of this invention will be had from the following detailed description when read in connection with the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of the two strips marked for stitching together for ultimate formation into a sling;

Fig. 2 is an edge view, illustrating how the two strips are sewn together to form an endless band or loop;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a stitched loop;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a complete sling;

Fig. 5 is a perspective of one end or eye of the sling; and

Fig. 6 is a partial section taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 4.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1 there are illustrated in plan view the two strips or webs 2 and 4, cut and marked for sewing into a complete loop, as shown in Fig. 2. In this step of making the sling, the end portion 6 of strip 2 is overlapped longitudinally with end portion 8 of the other web 4 and sewed together along longitudinal lines of stitching 10. Preferably there is no stitching directly across, i.e. perpendicular to the length of the web, as this merely tends to weaken the web by a series of transverse perforations through the web. The second, i.e. remaining pair of ends 12 and 14 of the two web strips i2 and 4 respectively are then overlapped and stitched longitudinally as at 15. Preferably the web 2 which was on the outside on the rst overlap or joint now becomes the underside of the second joint.

The thus formed loop is then arranged so that the center portions of the overlapping ends are at the ends Ice of the loop and the loop side portions intermediate the ends are collapsed, i.e. the loop is attened out with the sides in juxtaposition and in the same plane and secured together at two points 16 about midway of each overlap, thus forming two reversed eyes 18 and 20, one at each end of the sling. Preferably one face of the sling portion intermediate the eyes is then covered with an extra piece of web 2,2 forming a protective working face. The working face or web 22 is stitched to the sling proper entirely by longitudinal lines of stitching 24 which may diagonally cross over into four or six point cross stitch, as shown more particularly in Fig. 4. Again, any transverse stitching perpendicular to the length of the sling is avoided to eliminate any transverse lines of perforation which would tend to weaken the sling.

The foregoing construction provides a webbing sling having in effect re-enforced reversed eyes, having double thickness and a further re-enforced working face. Obviously, the sling could be made with more than two plies of webbing and more than one ply of the extra working face, if desired. Furthermore, both sides of the sling portion proper could be covered with an extra strengthening piece of webbing, if desired.

The foregoing structure and method provides a sling which, particularly when made of such materials as nylon, has a very high flex life and resistance to abrasion, coupled with high strength, low weight, high extensibility, and high recovery from extension, all in a reversed eye webbing sling formed primarily from two pieces of webbing with a third piece providing a working face, if desired. Such a sling is particularly adaptable for use in what is called a choker hitch where one eye is slid into and through the other and the lift is made from one eye only.

Obviously, minor changes may be made in the details of construction and method of manufacture without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A fabric sling comprising two lengths of webbing arranged with their ends overlapping and stitched together to form a continuous single loop, the sides of said loop being brought together in side-by-side relation in substantially the same plane, the edges of the webbing representing the thickness thereof being in substantial contact with each other along a substantial portion of the length of said loop and with the overlapped portions forming the end portions of the collapsed loop; said side portions being secured together in this relation whereby the end portions form integral reversed eyes of double thickness, one at each end of said loop.

'2. A fabric sling as defined in claim 1 wherein a strip of webbing overlies one face of the sling between the eyes and is stitched thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,931,808 Anderson O ct. 24, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS 300,324 Switzerland Oct. 1, 1954 

